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Published: August 22nd 2011
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Biking to North Cape is the single greatest effort I have ever done (after talking Anna-Ida into making the Cafe in Operaen) Why I chose North Cape is because geografically it is located at the end of the World in some sense. At least it's the Northernmost point you can drive to in Europe and probably the easiest accesible of Northern latitudes. 71 degrees north. That is very north. Now I am going to go southeast to reach the other end of the World in New Zealand.
I bought a Principia bike with Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires in Copenhagen and ordered some Ortlieb panniers and a Tubus back carrier. I also bought an Ortlieb front box and a dry bag for tent and sleeping bag. Everything in total I think I spent 1500 euro on this and a few other small neccesities like head lamp, firstaid-kit, gas-stove and extras for the bike.
I set off on a sunny Saturday morning and my good friend Kasper was the only one who showed up for the parade towards Elsinore. I think that a lot of other friends would have joined another kind of goodbye-saying. It was tough to say goodbye to
him, when he turned around halfway, but I was ready. Oh, I was ready.
It is important to notice that this is my first trip on a bike, let alone my first real big travel. I did not make any training for this trip. I just got up on my bike and pedalled. Which is probably why I even before reaching the Sweden ferry started to feel pain in my knees.
I had a host that night in Halmstad about 100 km away from Copenhagen, a distance I though was a good one to start out with. After 70 km the pain shifted from one knee to the other and going all the way was not a clever choice, but I never let down a host.
When I got up on the bike the next day, the terror in the knees was awful, but I got through it after some time. After a break my knees told me to kindly stop biking. The pain was mercyless and I was devastated to think that this might be the end of biking to North Cape. I sat in a hunting tower thinking, suddenly getting the idea to find some
painkillers. The first family down the road had plenty. That was a bliss.
Next day I bought painkillers and tiger balm. Over the next days I used plenty of both to handle the pain and the sore muscles. I also learned myself to built a campfire, so I would not use the gas straight away and cook over the fire instead. Camping in Sweden is not fun in July though because of one factor. Mosquitos. Those bastards can really destroy your relaxing time off the bike. A lot of that time was instead spent in my tent, reading a whole lot. The first two weeks I was reading 'The Girl Who Played With Fire' by Stieg Larson. Good reading.
I had some great hosts in Sweden. Erik in Halmstad, Ramune in Mullsjo, Ingvar in Gavle and Frida in Lycksele. Ingvar found me on the street in Gavle even before I called him up and we talked all night about travelling. He is 64 years old. Frida taught me how to fish and we caught a single small fish, which we grilled over a campfire.
During the trip I learned that it is a very good thing to
stay close of motorhomes. Those couples are happy to meet new people after spending a month with their spouses and will feed you what they can. I harvested many meals and coffee this way. Best occasion was before Ramsele, when I just parked for a rest, when it started to rain and a lady pops open the door and says 'coffee's ready'.
In North Sweden it gets really flat so some days I could do 180 km, which really cut off some days in the big scheme. But when there was a lot of climbing to do I landed between 100 and 140 per day.
Close of Ramsele there is a small hippie town, Skogsnaes, started by some of the same alternative thinkers who started Christiania. There I met Tom, whom I helped clean up a bit. He told me that back then in 1973, when they started, they thought that 'the system' was about to collapse, hence it would be important to have your own supplies. I also met Leidi, whom I helped doing the dishes and making a beetroot soup. For thanks she showed me around the area.
Just before the Polar Circle I found
Zbynek, a biking czech with an enormous baggage. He had started from home, going through Turkey, Caucasus and Ukraine before entering Sweden. He had a kilo of everything, so had to drive slower to keep up with him. He was a great fellow, and it was a shame we could only hang out for two days before he went off to Lofoten in Norway.
Camping, you eat a lot of mashed potatoes and noodles, but I varied a lot in my meals. I made up some Chili Sin Carne from Swedish fake minced meat and other interesting dishes. And every chance I got to grab a veggie burger I took it. Sweden is eldorado for those. Even in the smallest cities big enough to have a burger joint there would be the alternative veggie selection. Thank you for that Sweden.
I also met Klaus, a German bike enthusiast, who lured his family into going on a trip to North Cape on those bikes where the pedals are in front of the bike. First I met the family at the polar circle, where Klaus took my picture. Next I met him some 300 km further north when he was
picking up his wife's clothes which she forgot at the previous camping 50 km back. An extra 100 km for Klaus.
When I entered Finland about as north in Sweden as possible, I already entered Norway the same day. Then it started to become very curvy all of a sudden. My body started to crumble and it was first here after 20 days it started to become really tough... (to be continued)
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